Artemis
by Endlessbattlefield
Summary: What if everything you knew was a lie? what if you were the key to the worlds destruction? what if? stry is much better than this lame stry R&R please! *sniffle*


Flames licked the darkness one by one, three hideous women sat by a fire in fear for their lives as the chief of all Gods stood before them. The current holder of the all Seeing Eye trembled with shaking lips as she answered,

"The one with the most pure of blood must be drained of all vitality and you must take this vitality within yourself to stop what is ahead." The one that held the eye passed it to the middle sister and she began where the other left off, " Be not mistaken, the one with the purest of blood is amongst your ranks and will not fall so easily…you must…." She paused not sure to say what was to be said or not, Zeus glowered at the fearful women,

"Must what?" though it was not yelled the cave shook with its power, the fate handed the eye to her other, the final, sister.

" You must demote this young pure one, make her human for 18 years and she will be weakened, almost human but still with godly lineage. Pure blood for you to have. Yes?" Zeus took in each and every word as if it was wine,

"And who is this pure god I must….destroy?" His words were etched with curiosity and anticipation. The three sisters looked to each other and held the eye between their three bony hands while speaking in unison,

"Artemis." Zeus laughed to himself, hi own daughter from Leto? Who had sworn her eternal virginity? How amusing! He looked towards the fates eyes ablaze with excitement,

"And how do I make this happen without the other Gods knowing this?" _not that they could stop him. _The first sister who had spoken looked towards the Chief God,

"Call all the gods in for festivities, along with those who serve under you. The shadow walkers my lord, Call Artemis to drink from this silver cup…" she held out a silver cup that seemed to manifest out of nowhere, " once her lips touch the cup she will fall immediately under its spell, chose then to blame those beneath you." Zeus shook with laughter once more as the fates finished their premonition,

"This is to rich! The best plan I would have never thought of!" He left without a word still laughing when he entered Olympus, his servants stopped to look at him for a moment before going back to their duties, " you!" he called out to the highest ranking servant there. The servant walked up to the King of Gods terrified, "Send word to the shadow walkers there will be a party tonight and their all invited!" The servant nodded and without a word left to deliver the fatal message. Zeus who was now on his throne called for Hermes, who appeared almost instantaously,

"Tell the other Gods and Goddesses there's a party tonight."

Hermes gave a short bow and smiled, "Of course."

Artemis was becoming frustrated, for three hours now she and her nymphs had been chasing a flock of Deer through a sharp mountain pass and hadn't had one clear shot yet. Arge, Artemis high priestess, walked up to the frustrated goddess and smiled,

"It's okay Artemis, we can stop. We have plenty of Stag and boar already. Let's go back and freshen up." Arge patted Artemis back,

"No. I must finish this hunt. I'm determined to get that deer." The goddess wiped beads of sweat from her brow and in took a deep breath before standing up once more, the nymphs frowned but followed obediently. Phylone, who was amongst the nymphs smiled at Arge,

"That's our Artemis Agre, always pushing herself to get what she wants. There's no stoppin her now." Phylone rested her bow on her back and one arm slung over Arges shoulder. Artemis quietly made her way over the rocks towards the Stag that had been tormenting her all day; sure she could just use her godly powers and get what she wanted, with one flick of her pinkie that stag could be toast. But then again where the thrill of that? She took a silver arrow from her back and aimed at the deer, sucking in her breath so the stag would not hear her. God was that stag so beautiful, oh how she wanted it, just a stronger pull of her string and-

"Sister!" The arrow flew into a nearby tree scaring the stag off along with the other deer, Artemis growled with frustration, flinging her bow to the ground, before turning to face her nymphs who were squealing at the sight of her arrogant and obnoxious brother, Apollo.

"What!?" She answered angrily, causing her nymphs to shush and her brother to frown.

"Well I was gonna tell you some important news, But with that attitude I might just consider withholding it." Apollo answered with a frown. Artemis rolled her eyes while picking up her bow in one fell swoop; she walked over to her nymphs,

"Whatever. I was going home anyways." She did a small toss of her long golden hair and joined with her nymphs. Apollo's frown deepened at his sisters uninterested, she had obviously gotten pissed off at his sudden appearance during her hunting time, though it was common sense to never interrupt Artemis during her hunts. Apollo sighed with annoyance and summoned up the stag he presumed his sister had been hunting, holding it by the horns,

"Happy?"

Artemis looked over her shoulder and her jaw fell slack, "Wha? How did you?" He gave her look that said it all. She frowned, stomping over to her brother and smacking his hand from the frightened stag's horns, "That is not right! It must be hunted correctly!" Apollo rolled his eyes as the stag scampered off into the direction it was originally going,

"That was idiotic, you could have killed it then, ahhh well you've always been the stubborn type." He just shrugged it off, Artemis fumed with anger,

"That is not the point! Stupid! Idiotic! Egotistical!! AHHH!" She stomped her foot at every word, Apollo was used to the name calling and continued what he was going to say,

"Anyways, I came to tell you we been invited to attend some formal party or something, up at Da's place." Artemis was still going on with the name calling,

"Obnoxious! Jerk who- wait what? When?" Her temper imidantly subsided and she stood there with a finger on her chin, Apollo just shrugged,

"Don't know. Didn't get that part, I guess whenever?" Artemis nymphs were still standing were she had left them, Arge walked out from the group,

"Arte- I mean milady, aren't these godly pDianas usually held around the time dawn arrives? " She gave her head a small nod it was rude to approach a goddess without curtsey especially in front of another god, Aretmis looked towards the girl and then back at her brother,

"I think she's right." Artemis looked towards Arge, "Thank you, Arge." Then back to Apollo, "Then I shall be off brother." Apollo gave short nod and disappeared as quickly as he came, Artemis walked back towards her group and set off towards her palace.

By the time the festivities begun and all the Gods had arrived, Zeus had filled the silver malice with wine and had sat it by his side, waiting for his daughter Artemis to arrive. The shadow walkers were already there and clearly not welcome amongst all the Gods and Goddesses. They stood awkwardly by the tables and columns being glared at by everyone else, they weir nobodies, non-important. Worthless. Zeus Himself was wondering what had even brought him to invite them but his question was quickly subsided by the silver chalice sitting by him, his gaze drifted up when Artemis had finally arrived along with her brother Apollo. Now his plan could commence. Artemis smiled brightly at her father and toddled in his direction, giving a short bow before smiling once again,

"Good day Father, Thank you for allowing me to attend this party." Apollo did the same

"Yes, thank you Father." Zeus smiled and welcomed his children,

"It is always a pleasure to have you both here. Sit Artemis." Zeus patted the same spot on his lap Artemis had sat before when she was smaller, Artemis smiled once again and sat, "You must be thirsty, and here have a drink." Zeus handed the silver malice to Artemis,

"Thank you, Father." Artemis took the cup and brought the cup to her lips, Apollo's gut tightened but before he could warn his twin not to drink from the cursed malice her lips touched the rim and she fell slack almost immediately. Zeus jumped as if in surprise, shaking Artemis's fallen pale form,

"Artemis? Artemis?" He looked around the now Horror struck room, "Who did this?!" He bellowed out. Oh how he was a good actor, Apollo stared horror struck at his twins' deathly form. "You! You gave this cup to me! What did you do!?" Zeus's finger pointed out accusingly at an innocent shadow walker who happened to be staring, "This was their plan! They planed this! And to think I invited them myself!" The Shadow walker cried out,

"It was not-"The Shadow walkers sentence was finished with the sound of gurgling replacing it, a silver arrow stuck from its throat, Apollo glared at them menacingly,

"Then they shall all die." All the Gods yelled in an uproar and began the slaughter, screaming filled the palace walls and blood flew from every direction.

When the slaughter had ebbed all the gods gathered around the pale Artemis with sad faces, as Apollo made the assessment,

"She is not dead. But no longer in her body." Artemis's body was laid in a flowery bed in her temple deep within the forest, her nymphs wept outside the room, "I was too late to receive her soul from the underworld and she has been already put onto the list of reincarnations. All there is to do..Is wait."

~ Shadow world 10000 years later~

"Father, I do not understand. I have trained since that day to become of use to you and yet you send me to kill a mere human?" A young man asked his blind father, they were standing in the shadow world. As shadowy as it sounded, Dark pillars that rippled with demonic energy kept up huge ceilings that seemed to drip with shadows. This wasn't what the normal shadow world resembled but then again the shadow world was still in a time of suffering. The young man stared at his father with understanding but confused grey eyes as his father began to speak,

"You must understand we who have escaped the Gods wrath must have vengeance. We were slaughtered without a second thought for a crime we did not commit. The human I want you to kill is not a human at all, but a goddess, the goddess that started this was between our kinds. Artemis." They spoke as they walked deeper into the depts. of the ongoing hallways; the young man shook his head in confusion causing his brown black curls to hug his face more,

"I understand father, but-" The young man's father put his hand up to silence the boy and began again, his son was young and though had been in combat before still hadn't fully comprehended the full understanding of war.

"There are not Buts in war, son. You must do as I ask. Kill this goddess and whatever plan the gods are planning shall be thwarted and they will be weakened. Now go." The young man whose features were darkened gave a short nod and disappeared into the shadows leaving only whispered words behind,

"As you wish father."

~ Present~

The sound of loud poppers and confetti filled my morning as I walked into the kitchen still fully clothed in my Pj's,

"Congratulations on Graduating!!!!!" My mom yelled into my now numb ears, my eyes had yet to adjust to the cruel and unjust sun. I rubbed my eyes and gave a short yawn before replying,

"Good morning, to mom." I proceeded to the kitchen and sat down at our restaurant styled counter chairs and yawning once more, my mom just gave a short roll of her eyes and walked over to my tired form.

"So how does feel being out of high school?" she used the syrup bottle as a microphone, I gave a short shrug,

"Bleh. It feels very...Bleeh…" I spun a little in the chair from side to side and my mom fetched me a plate full of smiling pancakes and sausage,

"Well I think it's a great thing, you're finally out of high school and growing up." My mom smiled, eyes watering up. I frowned,

"Oh gee mom…..don't cry-"I was about to spout more comforting words but my cell went off and I answered at the first ring, "Well hello there?" I smiled,

"Yo! Are we still going out to Cel~~~~labrate!? "One of my best friend's, Courtney, cheery voices filled my ears; my mom frowned as I stood up from the table to take the call,

"Yeah, defiantly! Let me just tell my mom.." I pulled away from the phone, "hey mom, I'm going out to celebrate with some friends tonight, and that's cool right?" my mom frowned,

"I thought you did that last night?"

I went back to my cell, "She said okay! At ten right? Cool!" My mom's frown deepened

"Diana?" she warned, I gave her a pleading look as I hung up.

"Oh mom! Please! Last night wasn't really a celebration! It had teachers and now it's just going to be us few friends!" I begged, my mom just shook her head,

"I don't know, this makes me even more nervous. I don't think so Diana." I gave an exasperated sigh and stomped off towards my room to sulk until dinner time. I could hear my mom yelling from the kitchen,

"I'm sorry!" I knew she meant it and that I shouldn't be pouting right now but all I could think of at the moment was how miserable my night would be.

After four hours of loud music and laying on my pink carpet in pure misery I came out with all my shame to eat, my stomach dissolving my resolve to hold out until dinner. My mom had given me her usual 'I know you think you're older but you're not' speech. I was worn out and beaten for the day, well that was until I got a call from my bff Courtney.

"Oh come on Diana! Just sneak out! I'm already outside." She whined, "Plus super hottie Mac hottie Jake will be there." I could almost see her smirk. I sighed,

"I know, I know…but my mom sounded serious this time. I don't want to disappoint her." I said staring at my door which held posters of jonny depp. Courtney sighed,

"Awl, fine. I guess you'll just be lonely all your life, always a virgin, always soooooooa allllooooonnn-"

"Fine! I'll go! Just shut up….gezzz." I stood up with determination and grabbed my jacket, my mom was already asleep I presumed and opened my window seeing Courtney sitting in her red convertible waving me down, "Coming down." Was all I said after hanging up my cell and jumping out of my window.

The party I had lied to my mom about defiantly wasn't just a few friends and the stuff going on here defiantly wasn't legal. Courtney was already drunk and already flirting with ten guys, I was half way behind her……minus the guys of course. All my life I've had this anti-guy magnet or something, because not matter how hard I tried they never flirted back. Courtney was the exact opposite, she whom had already lost her virginity and loved pushing that fact into my face was kind of who I wanted to be, well minus the hoe factor…in a good way. A good hoe. Which pegged me to the question why or how I befriended Courtney in the first place? Oh yeah we where neighbors. Lost in my own thoughts I barely noticed the cute guy walking up to me,

"Oh, Hi Jake. What's up?" I asked, trying hard to conceal the fact I was almost completely dunk, Jake smiled at me; I could smell the alcohol on him.

"Hey Diana, you look very beautiful tonight, how's bout you and me head upstairs?" he nodded towards the stair case, I might be almost completely drunk but I wasn't stupid. I knew what "Going Upstairs" meant.

"Uhh, thanks but no thanks." I began to stand up but Jake grabbed my arm and sat me back down,

"Oh, I see. You're a virgin, eh? That's cool, I'll be real gentle, so how's bout it?" Jake hiccupped and his gripped tightened on my arm when I tried to leave again,

"No means no." Ugghhh how could I've fallen for a pig like this?

"Oh come on Diana, I know you like me. Court told me to come over here. Don't be such a Bitch." My eyes narrowed in Courtney's direction, Bitch.

"No."

Jake tugged me harder and I threw the rest of my drink on him causing people to stare, I felt my cheeks heat up,

"Gezz whatever stick you have stuck up your ass you better get looked at fucking whore." Jake spat as he released my arm, I could hear people whispering and the room felt like it was growing smaller. I stood up without a second glance at Courtney and walked out of the building. I walked a few blocks before stopping to find out I had no idea where I was going and stopped in front of an ally way. I heard a faint moaning sound and looked down the dark ally, or tried to look. It was so dark…But I could swear I heard the faint sound of a pained moan. Like an animal or something. Now I know my mom wouldn't approve of me walking down dark alleys or anything dark for that matter but I what can I say I had a soft spot for animals. Especially injured ones. So summoning up a bit of courage I walked into the darkness and began the search, I kept my hands on the wall for support as I stumbled across garbage and all sorts of stuff. Before I could gasp I felt my throat get grabbed and my air supply weaken, I looked for the source but found none. So I kicked and punched until I was free and scrambling for a way out of the alleys mouth. I was crawling away from nothing but something. Tears stained my eyes as I was pulled and turned over to come face to face with eyes of gray, I would have screamed but my mouth was instantly covered by this mysterious man. I struggled more when I saw he carried a blade, and then man rolled his grey eyes and bent down to my ear,

"When I say run, Shut up and run. Got it?" more tears streamed from my eyes as I nodded in reply, He realsed my mouth and got off of me, "Run" he shouted and turned to face and invisible enemy. I stood up and began to run but my leg was quickly grabbed by a black…shadow?! I screamed more today than I have in all of my life, the man was quickly in front of me picking me up of the ground and dragging me to my feet. We both began to run towards a wall….

"Wait!? A wall!?" I screamed and right before everything went black I saw the faintest form of a smirk appear on the man's face.

I awoke gasping for air and searching for an unseen enemy. Though what seemed to shock me the most was the fact that I was fully dressed in the Pjs I had worn yesterday and in my room, what? How? I fumbled with my hair and grabbed my cell phone from the counter dialing Courtney's number, we needed to talk. It rang twice before she answered,

"Hey! I was just about to call you! So are we still gonna ceeellllabrate!?" She said in the exact cherry tone she had used yesterday, I raised an eyebrow in confusion,

"Huh?"

"Don't Huh me. I'm talking about you me and your hottie Mac hottie Jake!"

"Huh!?" I was now officially confused, "What are you talking about Court? We did that yesterday and….and…"suddenly I couldn't remember where I was going with this. I heard and exasperated sigh on the other end,

"What are _you_ talking about Diana? Look when you get your mind outta the gutter call me, k?" She hung up and I sighed as I placed the phone down. I felt empty. Like I was forgetting something. Something important? Ugggh I couldn't think right now. Lifting my confused self outta bed and pulling myself towards the kitchen required very little effort but left me sleepier than I had been when I awoken. The obnoxious sound of poppers filled my ears along with the cheery voice of my mom shouting,

"Congratulations on Graduating High school!!!" I had the oddest sense of Déjà vu now. My mom must have noticed my look of pure confusion because she gave me one also, "What's wrong Diana? Are you not feeling well?" I blinked a few times to get the hazy feeling of sleep to disperse,

"No…I mean yeah. I'm fine I just need to eat and…." My sentence dragged off when the faintest blur of black went past the corner of my eye. My head quickly snapped toward the source of the shadow but my gaze found nothing. Was I going crazy? My mom gave me a worried glance,

"Are you sure you're feeling well honey? You look pale. Maybe if you e-" I moved faster than I ever thought possible as my arm swung out to push my mom away from the oncoming threat. You know those moments when time seems to stand still? Like the in the romantic movies when the lovers get their first kiss or when the explosions in the actions flicks go off and the gallant hero walks from the flames. This wasn't one of those moments, well unless you count a giant shadow manifesting from the wall and basically slicing my arm off. I heard my mom scream and felt the blood before the pain. I fell to my knees as the second blow came, in a flash the shadow was gone leaving me breathless and searching for the source of the next attack, I felt my mom move beside me, sobbing,

"What was that Diana? We have to get out of here before it…" I put my finger to my lips to quite her,

"Hold on mom…it's not gone."Right as the words left my lips I felt something hit the back of my head knocking me to floor, my vision blurred and I tried pulling myself from the ground but could only muster to turn my head slightly to see my mom in the clutches of a huge black monster, its dripping fangs coming oh so close towards her flailing form Its teeth sunk into her shoulder and halfway into her neck her body went immediately limp. It twisted and turned into a blacked shape with a stomach hurling crunch, I watched in pure horror as it bent down to lick up the remains. I could do nothing. I was nothing. Why am I so weak!? I screamed in full blown rage grabbing the nearest thing in my reach, ignoring the pain and hurled myself towards the black creature. It swiveled with laughter and opened its arms with welcome, I plunged whatever happened to be in my hands into what I presumed to be its heart. It went rigid and let out such a bone chilling yell, I heard the glass break and car alarms go off in the distant. Before I could react I was pulled back into something warm, something human. But my brain would not register so my body took over with full blown attack. I began to kick and scream as tears streamed down my cheeks and onto the floor, the blood filled floor. I wailed in frustration as my captor held me in place, the black monster whom I'd thought I had mortally wounded came forth in a blind rage my hands shot up in a protective stance but no impact came. The arm that was wrapped around my waist tightened as we plugged into complete darkness, and as if on command my eyes began to get hazy and droopy,

"Tell me where you want to go." A voice said softly from behind me, so dreamlike. I laid my head back on my captor's chest and sighed taking in every smell and feeling of this strange place. This felt so surreal. My legs floated beneath me and I felt as light as a feather, finally my voice came out, slowly but surely. "I want to go…home." I felt my captors arm move from my waist to my arm then to my hand,

"As you wish." Was their soft whisper, as soft as the winter breeze, my captors hand slipped from mine and I my eyes slowly flew open as grey eyes met mine?

Light intruded into my world as my eyes fluttered open, I looked around instinctively to find myself…once again in my room. Before I could add everything up to make sense my head began to pound and I fell back into my bed. I rubbed my forehead as my cell rang, so loud! My hand went to the dresser than to my bed as it searched for the obnoxious ringing, aha! Found it!

"Hello?" was my mustered reply,

"Hello!? Hello!? That's all you can say after all you owe me for setting up that little date with Jake and what do you do? You run off!" Courtney yelled into my ear,

"Oh gezz I'm so sorry Courtney…I'm sooooo sorry I didn't want my first time to be with a drunk!" I hung up frustrated and suffering from last night's events. My head flew up in sudden realization and I flew towards the door,

"Mom! Mom!?" I ran out of my room in a blind sprint and stooped when I came to the kitchen. I dropped to my knees at the sight of my mom standing over the stove watching the time; she turned when she heard me sobbing,

"Diana? What's wrong?" She knelt down to look at me and I sobbed more,

"Oh mom, I had this bad dream that you died and I…I" The hand that landed on my shoulder wasn't my mother's but a clawed hand filled with darkness, I saw my horror stricken reflection in its pointed tools of death. I screamed and found myself once again awaking but this time I was not in the comfort of my room but something far from normal. My gaze drifted from gold to more gold, I swear I had never seen so much gold in one place in my life. The fragrance of this place was so familiar and yet alien to me. My head swooned and I caught myself before I fell, what is this place? And why am I reacting this way? I placed my feet on the ground and realized I wasn't wearing shoes or much of anything. I screamed as I fell from my resting place, my legs had given out beneath me but before I could come to that fact another screamed escaped my mouth as I met the gaze of a face that was not mine. The girl that stared back at me had golden hair and crystal blue eyes, she wore what seemed to be something out of a history book lavender and golden the dress type thing whose name had somehow escaped my mind was short and stopped above my…I mean her knees. This was not me! I struggled to stand as I spotted a young girl walking alongside the huge pillars that seemed to hold this place up,

"Hello?" I called out; the girl stopped and looked around as if trying to find who had called her. The young girls' eyes fell upon in pure horror and astonishment," Yeah, could you please help me u-" I was cut off by her shrill scream as she ran off in the direction she had come from. I looked off in disbelief, how could I've been stricken with such bad luck. First I get hit on by the guy of my dreams and reject him because of a little alcohol, Then I get kidnapped by some strange guy who can walk through walls and then my mom…….my mom…Tears fell from my eyes as the sudden realization hit me. My mom was dead. Gone forever. I let out a short sob, how could I've forgotten? My gaze didn't drift up as voices sounded of in the distance,

"But sister Arge! She is awake! I saw her!" A young girl's voice resounded in the depts. of this huge place.

"Don't not lie Fyfe." An older woman's voice came out louder and footsteps came closer, I did not care anymore, more sobs escaped my lips as voices shouted and gathered closer. Tears fell faster as hands grabbed me from every direction. I felt sick. Disgusting. Worthless. My tear stained gaze drifted away from this strange world and back into the bleak darkness I'd once been in.

Only Darkness greeted this time.

"What are you doing here?" The soft voice asked my unvoiced question.

"I don't understand any of this…I don't know where I am…and I…I feel so alone." My words were shaken as my gaze drifted to the same eyes of grey I had seen so many times before. Before I had never really had time to really look at the strange man before, but now that I was and I could my gaze drifted back towards the nothingness ground. He was stunningly beautiful with eyes of pure grey the jet black medium length hair that met his broad shoulders with curls made my heart skip. The darkness that surrounded us only seemed to complement his chiseled features even more,

"This is the in-between." He answered back with the same calm voice. I looked up finding nothing, but the man in my sight

"The in-between?" It felt dumb of me to ask, as if I had already knew it somewhere deep within my mind. He only nodded,

"There are always in-between places, for everyone and everything."

"What does that mean? I don't understand. Look, I just want to go home." The man's mouth opened as if to reply but he stopped almost immediately, His grey gaze drifted back to me then back towards the darkness. He outstretched his hand towards me,

"Come with me." I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat as I reached to take his hand,

"Okay."As our fingertips brushed I felt a slight sting of electricity run within me. My heart sped up as we slipped from the darkness and into a much bright but still dark room. His hand slipped from mine and the man walked over towards a small chest that lay on what seemed to be a partially destroyed pillar, I looked around to find this place had many of these partially destroyed pillars and some of them were completely destroyed. Everything felt so…sad and depressing here. I didn't like it. I rubbed my hands against me shoulders as a small chill ran up my spine. I felt like I was being watched. The man's dark eyes swept over me and I felt chilled, every muscle and vein in my body edged me to walk away. But I couldn't, no. I wouldn't. With his grey eyes fixated on me the man pulled out a dagger witched I presumed had manifested from the chest. The man flung the dagger deathly close to my face without warning and I let out a shrill squeak before something red and gooey dripped onto my shoulder, well then I screamed at the top of my lungs. With a smirk playing at his lips the man retrieved his dagger from the fully standing pillar behind me reviling a very slimy looking leech type thing with bat wings,

"A seeker." Was all he said as the bug-thingy dispersed in thin air with a rich sizzle? Eww. After I had gathered my wits I asked dumbly,

"What's a seeker?" My grey eyed companion looked as if my words had struck him in the face,

"You really don't remember, do you?" The question was directed more towards himself, buuut I answered anyways,

"No? Remember what? And what's a seeker?" I stared at the blood on my shoulder when he pointed at the pillar behind me with the bloodied dagger,

"They reside in the in-between realms, usually used as trackers or as seekers as their name suggest. That one which had been stuck on your shoulder since we left was sent by a shadow walker." He pulled the dagger back and cleaned the blood of it, I raised a curious eyebrow.

"Shadow walkers? And why is it following me? Or seeking whatever. I'm so confused." I shook my head and closed my eyes, hoping it'd wake me from this crazy nightmare. The man stared at me blankly when I opened my eyes,

"Shadow walkers are my kind, the ones _your _kind murder unmercifully for a false crime we did not commit. You are to blame. You are the sole purpose we have to hide!" the man's grey eyes stared at me with such hatred I ended backing up into the pillar to get away from the words that seemed to bite my skin,

"Me?" Answering back did nothing to help me, because the next thing I knew a dagger was up against my throat so close that if I swallowed or even breathed wrong, it'd cut me. Grey eyes burned into mine,

"Yes you. Because of you my mother and little brother were killed. Mindless bloodshed, for a dumb bitch of a goddess." My heart sank at each word, what in the world had I done to make someone hate me so much? Without thinking tears began to form at my eyes and I felt my eternal resolve disintegrate. So much had happened today, so much that could not be explained with simple words. I know it was very stupid of me to start crying in front of someone I barely knew much less someone who was probably about to kill me. I felt the dagger slowly slid from my neck as footsteps came closer and closer, my blurry vision kept me from seeing exactly who was coming but obviously he did because the next thing I knew his hand was covering my mouth urging me to stay quiet,

"Theo! Guess what I found out…oh! Hey is that a girl? Never seen her around before." A younger looking man with fiery red hair approached us with a foolish grin on his face. The man or Theo looked at me with stern eyes that seemed to say 'If you say one word this dagger is going in your throat.' I gave a short nod saying I understood and Theo slowly released his hand from my mouth. Before Theo could even fully turn around to say something to the strange man I screamed at the top of my lungs not sure what exactly that would do but hey? It created a distraction and an opening for me to run. I quickly ducked under Theo's grabbing arm and sprinted towards the red hair man had came from. Not sure it was leading me I kept blindly running towards what I was hoping to be an exit. I heard Theo shouting at me and muttering a few curses as he closed in from behind me, but my school track record had never been beat and it wasn't about to be today. My speed went up and I heard Theo's voice slowly fade from my earshot. By the time I had stopped running and I was completely out of breath, I was leaning up against a strange wall panting for air. _Okay I've officially run away from my captor. Plan A complete. So what's plan B? _My thoughts were interrupted by an arm grabbing my waist and holding me against the wall, a small squeak escaped my lips as Theo's now annoyed face appeared near my shoulder,

"You're really a handful you know that? If you weren't a goddess I would have killed you long ago." His voice was rich with venom as I struggled to wretch myself from his grip,

"Then why don't you kill me then? I'm no goddess as you can see. Or _I_ would have killed you a long time ago." I tried imitating the same venoms tone he had. Theo's arm tugged me closer into the wall and I gasped as the air left my lungs,

"Don't play games with me Artemis; it was cute the first time. But now it's just getting old." I glared at him threw half closed eyelids, my vision was going blurry with tears,

"I don't know what you're talking about…" I choked out, my air supply was depleting slowly. Theo's grey eyes studied me for the longest time before he finally released me and walked out fully from the wall, I fell to my knees in an air gasping frenzy. Theo circled around me with predatory stealth,

"If what you are saying is true…which it is not. Then why do you resemble the goddess so well?" I lifted my head barley,

"I…don't…know…" I blinked a couple of times, trying to get my vision back on track. Theo stopped pacing around me and knelt down to face me, lifting my chin to look at me in the eyes,

"If I kill you now…It would stop so much suffering…so much senseless killing…So why do I believe you?" His grey eyes studied my face as if searching for an answer but looked to the floor when one did not come up. Theo dropped my face and stood up, back facing me. "Stand up. And follow me."

I was sitting on a broken pillar, watching as Theo explained to red head who I was…or who I wasn't. Even though nothing Theo said made any sense to me I couldn't help but start believing him myself, What if I was some grand goddess? What if…I stared at my hands dumbly and looked back up at Theo who was still talking to Mister red head. I lifted my hand up and took a deep breath, aiming my hands at the nearby pillar murmuring to myself

"If I am a great goddess or whatever…then this should work." I closed my eyes as a surge of power went through me, "Destroy that pillar." I told myself…nothing happened, I opened one eyelid and frowned. "Destroy that pillar!" I said with more force. Boom! The ground shook as the pillar exploded with a blinding light; I felt a smile tug at my lips when I noticed a small portion of the pillar had smacked Theo right in the face. Theo turned to glare at me with hellish intensity; I gave a small wave and smiled innocently,

"Sorry…" okay…cool…I've officially succeeded in convincing myself that Theo was right about me not being normal. But a Goddess? Well I guess we'll just have to test out an- Theo lowered my hands away from the air, a frown on his face,

"Can you please resign from destroying this place even more? Or do I have to through you into the in-between?" There was no humor behind his words but his seriousness made me giggle randomly,

"Maybe…" Theo rolled his eyes and released my hands but quickly turned to glare at me when I had raised them again. I raised my hands in surrender, "Okay, Okay…I'm stopping…buzz kill…"I muttered the last part under my breath and continued to sit bored to death on the pillar. After about three more hours, so I assumed, had gone by Theo walked over in my direction again without Mister red head.

"Where's mister red head?" I asked pursing my lips, Theo raised an eyebrow,

"_Kent_… Is going to make sure no one else heard you're little…" His hand extended to show the completely destroyed pillar…or pillars which I would have sworn had only been one, "extent of power. Kent is also going to get something to help you remember at least a little bit so we can get somewhere." Theo said this as if it'd be a great relief, I frowned,

"Remember what, exactly?" Theo moved closer until both his hands were resting on either side of the pillar and I could feel his breath as he spoke,

"Remember who you are, so you won't be using your powers stupidly. It's one thing to have godly powers, but another to have a goddess that doesn't know how to use them." He made a head gesture back towards the destroyed pillars,

"I get it with the pillars already, sorry."I gave a short roll of my eyes, " I just wanted to make sure you weren't some psycho freak who likes to kidnap people…or something weird like that…"I trailed off when I realized how close we were exactly. Theo's grey eyes bore into me and my heart pounded so hard until I could practically hear it. Theo leaned closer until his lips brushed mine, my shoulders tensed up not sure as what to do in this situation. My whole body had gone into full alert mode and I couldn't decide whether to run away or fight. Wait…why exactly was I thinking this? I knew the next move…but for some reason this body did not respond to my thoughts instead I found myself already gone from the pillar landed on the ground in a sort of kneeling position a golden bow in my right hand and a gleaming silver arrow strung and ready to fly. Theo stared at me wide eyed and I felt my eyebrows crunch together in a tight line,

"Do Not Touch Me." I snarled a voice that sounded so closely to mine but seemed to have no resemblance whatsoever. I stood up fully and kept my arrow straight as I walked a little to the side for a better range, this way if I did need to let the arrow fly and It didn't kill him it at least hit him in the shoulder and…why was I thinking this? These thoughts weren't mine! These thoughts so familiar yet so distant echoed thought my head, _Kill him! Punish him!_ They echoed. My body went rigid and I dropped the bow in pure horror. _What has gotten into me?! _ "I'm so sorry! I don't know what has gotten into me…I just blacked out and…and…Why are you laughing!?" It was true; Theo had cracked up laughing until tears had formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I never knew it would take _that_ to get a reaction out of you Artemis!"He mocked, "You really are a virgin goddess!" I felt the heat rise to my cheeks as I flushed a deep red,

"Shut up, you…You Freak!" Theo burst into yet another fit of laughter but was quickly subsided when he looked back up to me, a smirk on his face.

"Or did you really think I wanted to kiss you? Did you want to kiss me?" He purred mockingly as he strode over to me dagger clearly in his hand, I took a step back as he approached. I was still holding the silver arrow and I held it up defensively as he stood in front of me a smirk still on his lips,

"N-No…Stay back or so help me I'll stab you with this!" I made a jabbing motion towards Theo, who just raised an eyebrow answered,

"Besides that little fit back there you had I highly doubt you know how to even handle a bow." He played with dagger as he strode closer until he had his finger on the tip of the arrow, "Now w-" Theo's sentence was short lived because the next thing I knew a wall was blasted to the high heavens and back as Mister red head ran in half toast,

"Theo! It's him he came an-" Mister red head screamed as a young man closely resembling the face I was borrowing for now came walking in casually,

"Now, you will tell me where you are keeping……." Golden eyes met mine in astonishment and I felt my heart once again begin to pound out of my chest, my lips moved but before the words could leave my mouth Theo growled in frustration,

"You…" was all he said as he turned to glare at the man who hadn't seemed to notice Theo even existed, but instead kept his liquid gaze on me,

"Sister."

My whole body shook as if a winter's breeze had found its way into this dark place. Goosebumps appeared along with its wintery touch. Theo's glare never left the man's face as he spoke,

"What are you doing here? Come to kill innocent children?" Theo's voice was filled with hatred more than when he had spoke to me, the man's golden gaze slid away from me for the first time since his arrival and looked as if he had just noticed Theo for the first time.

"Shadow walker…" His voice was also filled with hatred and it seemed as if this world shook with each word, "You seem to be in possession of something of mine." Golden eyes fell upon me once again and I jerked back from their force. Theo's jaw clenched clearly unmatched by this unknown man, even I feel the power crackling thought this place. Theo must have noticed it too because the next thing I knew I was grabbed by the arm and flung into the nearest wall, my screams where over taken by the darkness. My yelps echoed along with a furious growl and a venomous warning,

"You cannot hide in the Shadows forever, Shadow Walker!" Theo only smirked as He greeted me,

"So Artemis, how does it feel to see your twin after so long?" It sounded more like a mock more than a question, my eyebrows crunched together in a tight line,

"My twin?" He did not answer my question and instead kept leading me through the darkness

"Theo, what are we doing here? And where exactly is here?" My eyes strained against beaming sunlight that seemed to illuminate the trees around me. Theo turned to shush me and kept leading me through the brush, I frowned,

"Don't shush me! I want to know where I'm going! Besides you haven't even answered my first question about…" Before the rest of the sentence even left my mouth a arrow flew straight into the tree beside me, barley missing my ear. Theo grabbed my arm and pulled my behind him, shielding me from whatever had shot at me. I screamed when a very large tiger came into view, Theo who was once tensed relaxed and smiled at the approaching wild cat,

"Salem. You've gotten bigger." He proceeded to bend down and pet it while it purred. If my jaw hadn't already dropped then it must have then it would have when a thin tall tan skinned woman came into view, wearing barley anything. The feathers in her long auburn hair swayed when she bent down to pat the big tigers head. The bow in her other hand told me she was my attacker. Her voice came out in a sweet feminine yet husky tone,

"Theo, what brings you to my village?" Theo nodded his head over towards my direction while still petting the tigers head,

"Artemis, Tatani. Tatani, Artemis. Not much I know. But she's the real deal." Theo shrugged it off as he stood up and brushed on the dirt on his pants. Tatani eyed me up and down with a very disbelieving stare. Her gaze slid back to Theo and she spoke something in a language I didn't quite catch or know for that matter. What surprised me more was when Theo answered back in the same foreign language, I once again found myself left out of the equation. I shudder when I saw the tiger eyeing me down with what seemed to be hunger filled eyes.


End file.
